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Whole School Performance
Once again a big thank you to our students for the amazing performance last Tuesday. It was fantastic to see all students participate in some way to make this night a very enjoyable experience for families and friends. Of course this event highlighted the many skills and talents of our students.
Thanks to our very talented Performing Art Teacher and all the staff who supported the students. Thank you to the parents for supporting the students and attending the event. We are grateful to Kilbreda for hiring the venue to us and providing us with support staff who assisted us with the rehearsal and performance.
Sex Education
St Catherine’s and St Paul’s have engaged Cath McCallig to support parents in the area of Sex Education for children. Cath is a teacher, theatre in education presenter, and more recently, as a sexuality educator with Family Life Victoria. Cath is now branching out on her own and offering our parents the opportunity to attend a family evening at St Paul’s.
When: Wednesday 20 November
Where: St Paul’s Hall
There are two sessions being offered, these sessions are attended by children and their adult(s) and are an opportunity to discuss the topics listed. The sessions are designed to be fun and informal.
Session 1 Families, Bodies and Babies. - is usually attended by Years 3/4 families- 6pm - 7 pm.
*Ideas of what makes a family are shared. *Similarities and differences in male and female bodies are looked at. *Body parts are named and the term ‘private parts’ discussed as a lead-in to keeping ourselves safe. *Conception, foetal development and birth are discussed. This will include a brief and basic explanation of sexual intercourse.
Session 2 Puberty: Growing and Changing - (Puberty: Growing and Changing) is usually attended by Years 5/6 families -7:15 - 8:15 pm
*The Who ,What, When and Why of Puberty (including the pituitary gland and hormones). *A quick recap of body parts and their names for those who didn’t attend Session 1 *The physical, social and emotional changes of puberty are discussed allowing time for students to talk with their attending adult(s) about management strategies. *The gender specific changes are explained and again, students have the opportunity to discuss management with their adults.
Cost: $20 per family for one session, $25 per family for 2 sessions.
Please refer to the link below for bookings. I hope many families take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
Booking Link: https://www.trybooking.com/BGDTR
Mission Day Mass
Next Wednesday 23 October our Faith/Social Justice/Learning Leaders along with our Senior SCR leaders will represent our school and attend mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
2020 Foundation Orientation
Just a reminder to current families with siblings starting Foundation next year, our term 4 orientation sessions begin next week. Please see dates below.
Session 1- Wednesday 23 October- 12:00-1:15pm
Parent Information Evening- Wednesday 30 October @ 7:00pm
Session 2 Thursday 31 October- 2:15-3:30pm
Session 3 Tuesday 12 November 9:15-10:30pm
Curriculum Term Outlines
Term 4 Curriculum Term Outlines are now available for parents. These can be located on the Parent Engagement Platform on the left hand side in the folder labelled Curriculum Term Outline.
These documents inform parents of the curriculum taught throughout the term. Teachers also include important dates and other information that parents need to be aware of.
These documents are also attached below.
Hats & Sunglasses
Hats and sunglasses are now complsory to Term 4 as part of our Sun Smart policy. Sunglasses can be purchased at the office if necessary.
Students in F-4 will participate in swimming lessons at Aquastar on the following dates.
2-5 September
9-12 September
Further information will be sent out via Caremonkey this week.
Year 5-6 Students will participate in the Beach Safety program which will take place on Monday 16 December and Tuesday 17 December.
Further information will be sent out via Caremonkey in the weeks ahead.
Term 4 Dates
Important school dates are listed on the left hand side of our Parent Engagement Platform and are also located in the google calendar in the calendar folder.
Every October, the ‘Walk to School’ program encourages Victorian Primary school children to walk, ride or scoot to and from school. It is a great way to help students learn healthy habits and achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Starting the first day back in term 4 the 7th of October classroom teachers have been recording the students progress as to what transport they have used to get to and from school, if they walked, rode or scooted they will get a tick for that day to add to their score.
St Catherines will be in the draw to win great regional prizes so please get involved and encourage your child to walk, ride or scott to school for the month of October even if it is just part of the way!
Tomorrow, on the 15th of October there will be a coffee van and healthy breakfast provided from 8am onwards as a walk to school celebration so please come along to support our school! Lottie the Lollipop Lady will be there to greet the children and hand out prizes!
A wonderful article to read and reflect upon the whole concept of family.
The Family as a School of Charity
Ronald Rolheiser, OMI
Many classical spiritual writers used to espouse this. What does it mean to say that families are schools of charity?
As a young novice, reading books by Francis de Sales and Thomas a Kempis, I thought I knew. It made simple sense: When you live in a family, the give-and-take or life that you experience there, all the quirks and selfishness you have to life with, gives you (and every other member in the family) the opportunity to learn patience, forgiveness, understanding, and every other virtue under the sun. That idea, while not entirely wrong, is not quite what people like Thomas a Kempis (The Imitation of Christ) had in mind when they said that families are schools of therapy.
What they meant is in fact very close to what might be called “the therapy of a public life.” What is this? Negatively stated, it means that if I live without enough real give-and-take within a concrete family of some kind, there will be constant dangers and dangerous deprivations in my life.
The constant dangers will include an unhealthy fantasy about who I am, an illusion about what life is all about, a selfishness in terms of not sufficiently giving myself and what I have over to others, and a paranoia about guarding myself and my freedom. The dangerous deprivations will consist in the fact that nobody is really supporting me, even as nobody is helping me really deal with my pathologies and sins.
What a healthy family does is de-fantasize us, challenge us, dispel our illusions, demand unselfishness, and help us carry our pathologies. Practically, this means that if we give ourselves over to the rhythms of family and community life, we will constantly be corrected in how we perceive ourselves, deflated in our egoism and inflated self-importance, asked to be less selfish, stretched in how we see the world, and exposed in our faults. At the same time, if the family is healthy, we will also be met at that deep place in our hearts where we need the familiar, given a home (in the real meaning of that word), and helped to deal with our sickest secrets. This latter point is especially important.
Anthropologists tell us that one of the major functions of family is to help carry the pathologies of its members. They also point out that in previous cultures, where the family unit was much stronger than today, there was much less need for private therapy than there is now. Family life was the essential therapy for its members. That is an important truth. Without family, I am truly alone before my inner sicknesses and sins. Today that is often not understood. We have a virtual library of literature on dysfunctional families. Valuable as that is, it generally fails to point out that all families and communities (save the Trinity) are dysfunctional. Thus, the question is not so much, “Is your family dysfunctional?” but rather, “how dysfunctional is it and how are we helping to carry each others’ pathologies?” Families are schools of charity – and also our primary clinics for therapy. To live in a family is to be in therapy.
Perhaps an illustration can be helpful here: Several years ago, a woman came to me seeking counselling and spiritual direction. She was middle-aged, divorced from her husband, with grown children who no longer lived with her. She felt she was missing something in life, something she once had but now could not even name. It scared her. She described things this way: “I’m slipping! I don’t know what’s happening to me, I’m not even sure exactly what I want, but I’m just not moored any more, nor growing, nor happy. I need more anchors in my life.”
I only had one session with her because she was, in fact, quite a healthy woman who didn’t need counselling, nor particularly even spiritual direction. She needed the therapy of a public life. She needed to re-enrol in a school of charity. She needed family. Healthily, she herself sensed the dangers and dangerous deprivations inherent in not having a vital enough link to a living school of charity. Thus, I didn’t refer her to any counsellor or spiritual director. Instead I referred her to the registrar of a local Catholic theological school where she enrolled, met a group of persons much like herself, began to go to Eucharist several times a week, became involved in a series of prayer, discussion, and friendship groups … and blossomed. She found the steadying she sought and countless kinds of challenge through the therapy of a public life, through a family, through a school of charity.
We need desperately family, not just to meet our needs for intimacy and companionship, but also, like rocks being polished in a grinder, to jostle us around so that our rough edges get smoothed, our fantasies get dispelled, our selfishness gets derailed, our sicknesses get some attention, and our hearts get stretched enough to let us sit at the final family-table where everyone will lovingly and healthily be able to sit with everyone else
Edward Dooley
Federated Schools Mission & Faith Leader
Reporter: Ollie McDonald 5/6SS
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Perform!
On Tuesday 8th October 2019, I went to watch the Foundation to year 6 students perform a handwritten play called ‘Mission H20’. The play was set on Earth 100 years into the future. The Earth was running out of water. It was up to 6 astronauts to save the earth. Major Tom the Leader, Gamma the Fixer, Angel the Questioner, Aqua the Creator, Crystal the Alien and Doc the Comedian/Scientist. The Mission was of course, successful!The crowd was clapping and filled with joy, as I was.
Reporter: Toby Bartleman 5/6SS
On 8/10/2019 there was a performance at Kilbreda College by St Catherine’s students. My favourite part was the ending where everyone was dancing and clapping, including the teachers. I loved it so much. I loved that all the classes had a song and parts to say.
Reporter: Sienna Webb 5/6SS
‘Whooo...!’ roared the audience clapping and smiling with joy. Mission H20 as fulfilled as they found the ‘River of Dreams’. The show was amazing and it had a wonderful message. It was a message about the dangers of Global Warming and not taking anything for granted. ‘The future of our Earth depends upon it’ and that’s the truth.
Reporter: Sophie Langdon 5/6SS
I must say...What a show! The songs were impressive. It’s like the show was written especially for St Catherine’s. It did not look like they were putting on fake smiles, they were actually smiling. I saw: amazing actors, space explorers, Lily and her Dad, Sun Citizens, robots, the Grand Leader, reporters, singers and dancers.
Reporter: Phoenix Tivan 1/2MH
Yesterday I went to the concert. l was nervous. We went in the car. l was early so I got to play. Next we went in the hall. We went on the stage and waited for our turn.lt was now our turn to perform and l was excited. 1/2MH and 1/2LA both performed ‘Hey Mister Spaceman’, ‘Moon Shadow’ and ‘Fireflies’.When we got off the brown stage we had to wait for our next performance. We got up and performed ‘Robot Number One’. When I was performing I felt normal. I had lots and lots of fun.
Reporter: Sebastian Laughlan 1/2MH
Lights, camera, action! As we entered the big, wide stage to start the show, the curtains opened and there were hundreds of people staring at us as we sang 3 songs. Then the Prep’s did their part and the other students. Next, it was our turn to go up on the stage. We danced and sang to ‘Robot Number One’. I liked our song because I think it is catchy. I liked the ‘Final Countdown’. I was so exhausted but we still had to do the finale. So, class by class we went on stage and danced to a song. I was so exhausted. So, I went home...it was epic.
Reporter: Emmeline Vardy 1/2MH
Lights, camera, action! The blinds opened and we started to sing’ Fireflies’ ‘,Moon Shadow’ and’ Mr Spaceman’. The Lights flashed. It was so colourful! We went off the stage! Then after that Lily and her dad came on the stage. Once Lily’s dad clicked ABC News and they said all the astronauts are finally going to space! Then the’ Final Countdown’ kids came on it was the highlight of my day! Then it was finally time to do our dance we walked onto the stage then we did ‘Robot Number 1’. Then we walked off the stage. Then 1/2LA dancers came on. Then we watched other people do their dances. Then after that we got to go on the stage for the finale, it was amazing! Then Lola and Emilia came up and sang ‘What a Wonderful World!’ I was tired, I was happy and exhausted!
Reporter: Ben Anstee 1/2MH
Lights, camera, action! We were the first people on stage. l was soooo... nervous! It was on Tuesday 7:00. It was 5 minutes until the curtains opened Sienna and I were nervous. Finally the curtains opened and we sang ‘Moon Shadow’, ‘Fireflies’ and ‘Mr Spaceman’. My Mum, Dad, Nan were there.
Next we danced to ‘Robot Number 1’ and it was really fun! I did a part with Albie in’ Robot Number 1’. My favourite song was ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and ‘Sky Full of Stars’. Finally it was the grand finale and I was so excited to run onto the enormous stage! When I ran on stage I jumped around and sang ‘Astronaut’ and’ Starman’. It was fun and I was happy that I did it.
Invitation
Please join the staff and students for a
‘Beginning of Term 4 Liturgy’ in the Learning Hub.
We would love to see you there.
10am Wednesday, 16th October
Socktober 2019- Led by Year 5 students
Students from Foundation to Year 6 will be invited to wear colourful socks to school on Tuesday 29th October. They will be asked to bring a gold coin donation and coins for minor raffles to raise money for the Catholic Missions. This year the focus will be to help children and families in Ghana. See the website for more details. https://www.socktober.org.au/about
ENGAGE - Socktober invites schools to engage with mission in an holistic way within the heads, heart, hands model: encouraging a learning mind, an open heart and hands for action. Children experience how their brothers and sisters in Ghana play the game of soccer, learn about life in Ghana and are moved to action.
LEAD - Socktober provides children with the opportunity to lead in mission by sharing their story of support with their family and friends.
CREATE – As part of Socktober, children build a recycled ‘Sock Ball’ – a replica of the type of ball thousands of children throughout the world use each day. Year 5 students will organise activities for each Year level and run these with the classes on Tuesday, 29th October. More information to follow next week.
Carmel Donlon- Coordinationg Leader Edward Dooley- Federation Mission and Faith Leader
DON’T PUT THEM IN LANDFILL - DONATE THEM TO THOSE IN NEED!
Mrs Moore is keen for donations of children’s bathers that have become too small for your children over the Winter. In January 2020, these bathers will be delivered to Thailand where they will be cleaned and donated to the Special Needs School, Samui and local disadvantaged Thai children.
The National Institute for Child and Family Development (NICFD) data states that five to seven Thai children drown each day. This is a staggering statistic and one that my friends are personally working on to reduce.
Rather than send your old bathers to landfill here in Australia, a basket will be set up in the foyer of our school in Term 4. Please think before you throw as these simple items will be used by local Thai children with the intent of them not becoming another statistic. Environmentally, it is also a plus-plus!
Any queries, please contact Megan Moore at mmoore@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au
Entries close Thursday 24th October
AGE 4-7
Leo receives 8 candy bars in his trick-or-treat bag. His brother Max eats 3 of them. How many candy bars does Leo have left in his bag?
AGE 8-10
AGE 10 upwards
154 children in the school went trick or treating. On average they each got 40 sweets. About how many sweets did they get altogether?
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REMEMBER TO INCLUDE ● Your name ● Your age ● Your class ● ALL of your workings out ● Any units of measurement if the answer needs it |
